Punjab to spend Rs.3,500 crore on urban mission: Sukhbir

Chandigarh, April 28 (IANS) Aiming to accelerate the pace of development works in the state, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday announced the government would spend Rs.3,500 crore on strengthening urban infrastructure.

Presiding over a meeting here called to review the status of urban projects, he said the state would develop a world-class infrastructure in the towns and cities and make them cleaner.

Badal said to give practical shape to the state urban mission, Rs.1,500 crore have been released to the department of local government and directions have been issued to release another instalment of the same amount.

He asked the local bodies department to accord priority to developing and strengthening roads and streets in towns where sewerage and water supply works have been completed.

The deputy chief minister said the pre-audit of development projects under the urban mission should not hamper the pace of work at any cost.

The Punjab government is spending Rs.10,000 crore on provisioning and strengthening development projects in both urban and rural missions, he said.